The performance level of communication links in a wired or wireless communication network is based in part on the link capacity of communication links. Greater link capacity correlates with, for example, higher data throughput, which allows a communication network to provide greater guaranteed quality of service (QoS) to a receiving device. Determining communication link capacity is an important operation for communication network providers, in order to monitor deployed capacity, plan capacity upgrades, and to detect congested or underutilized communication links.
Overview
In an embodiment, over a communication link from an access node to a wireless device, a plurality of packets is sent comprising a packet size and a data length based on a modulation and coding scheme assigned to the communication link. A dispersion of at least two of the packets sent to the wireless device is determined, and an average dispersion rate is calculated based on the determined dispersion of the at least two packets and the data length. Based on the packet size and the average dispersion rate, an available link capacity is determined.